An orchidist can add to his collection inexpensively if he can work with backbulbs and orchid rescues. There is no single method for sprouting backbulbs. The main ingredient is practice, practice, practice.

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Plants on EBay

I have no plants on eBay this week. The auction usually ends at 4pm PST on Saturday.

NOTE: many of the links and pictures have a popup that shows more when you hover the mouse over them.

What are orchid backbulbs?

Backbulbs are the older generations of growth that have been removed from an orchid. Often, when a plant is divided, older pseudobulbs are cut off to make the plant fit the pot better. These may be thrown away, but sometimes they are given as gifts to help a friend expand her collection, or sold when the plant is valuable.

That's what this blog and website are all about; being ready when that wonderful gift of a collectable backbulb comes your way. There is as much art as science in getting backbulbs started.

I subscribe to OrchidSpecies.com which is my primary source for orchid species information.

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Saturday, February 19, 2011

Insect killing on orchids

I make my own insect spray. This stuff is good for mealybugs and aphids as well as a first level attack on scale.

I take a quart of alcohol and divide it into two quart bottles and add water so that each is 2/3 full. Then I take a cap full of Formula 409 concentrate that has had some red food coloring added and put that into one of the bottles. I finish off by pouring back and forth between the two bottles until the soap is evenly mixed. This is the mixture I keep in a spray bottle in the greenhouse. The mixture has a pink color to it so I know I am not picking up the wrong sprayer.

This cannot be used on flowers. It is not strong enough for scale, although it will kill the visible insects. For mealybugs and aphids, all that is needed is to rinse the bug bodies off the plant. It is safe for indoor use.